I really enjoyed this book! I have had pretty good luck with C.J. Tudor's books so I waThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I really enjoyed this book! I have had pretty good luck with C.J. Tudor's books so I was really excited to read her newest offering. I went into this book rather blindly which I think might be the best way to experience this wonderful novel. This book was one of those books that I found hard to put down and appreciated each and every surprise during the reading journey.
Reverend Jack Brooks has been reassigned to the small town of Chapel Croft. Jack's 14-year-old daughter Flo isn't any more thrilled by the more than Jack is but they are going to try to make the most of it. The church that Jack has been assigned to has a lot of history being the site where martyrs were burned at the stake. Residents still leave burning dolls to honor them. Jack was sent to Chapel Croft to replace a vicar who suddenly committed suicide a couple of months earlier and the town also holds the mystery of a pair of teen girls who disappeared years ago without a trace.
Jack and Flo try to fit in but some things just feel off. They both are starting to make friends and trying to connect to the community but they can't stop themselves from digging a little deeper into the mysteries surrounding the events that have occurred in the town. I loved the way that this book was able to keep me guessing until the very end. I really liked both Jack and Flo and found myself rather worried about both of them at several points in the story. This story was really intense and I felt like it straddled the line between mystery and horror which is something that I really appreciated.
I would highly recommend this book to others. I think that this was a fantastic novel that had me glued to the pages and invested in the welfare of the characters. I will definitely be reading C.J. Tudor's work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books via NetGalley.
Initial Thoughts This was really good! Reverend Jack and teenage daughter, Flo, are sent to a church with a lot of history in a small town. They do their best to make things work and fit in but some things feel off. I loved the fact that this book kept me guessing from beginning to end with plenty of twists and turns. I really liked Jack and Flo and found myself worrying about them quite a bit over the course of this story. I will say that this story straddled the line between thriller and horror at times which is something that I appreciated....more
This was really the guts of the story. Everything was set up in the first installment aThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
This was really the guts of the story. Everything was set up in the first installment and now the fun can really begin. Presley and Hunter stumble upon a scavenger hunt and they feel compelled to follow the clues. It was fun to see them work together to find each piece of the puzzle. The scavenger hunt tells the story of the history of a couple in the past that had quite an exciting life.
Things heat up a little, or really a lot, in this installment. It is so obvious that Hunter and Presley are falling hard for each other all over again. This is if they ever really got each other out of their mind. Their chemistry is intense and I really did like seeing them together.
Andi Arndt and Scott Eastwood continue to do a great job with this story. I do still wish that Scott Eastwood showed a little more emotion in his reading but I do love his voice. This installment adds two more narrators to the mix with Zachary Weber and Saskia Maarleveld who are giving voice to the letters in the story.
I couldn't wait to see how things would wrap up!
I received a copy of this audiobook from Audible Studios....more
I thought that this book was really well done. I enjoy historical fiction every once inThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I thought that this book was really well done. I enjoy historical fiction every once in a while and stories set during World War II really appeal to me. I am always on the lookout for something a little different and the premise of this story grabbed me right away. I love the fact that this book is based on a true story and was eager to see how a woman was able to hide within a PoW camp. Once I picked up this book, I was hooked right away and didn't want to put the book down. I am so glad that I decided to give this book a try.
At the start of this story, Izzy is a farm girl in Czechoslovakia and Bill is a prisoner at a work camp that has been assigned to assist at her family farm. They are drawn to each other from the very beginning and fall in love in moments when they are able to steal a bit of time together away from everyone else. They marry and escape only to be captured a short time later. This is when things start getting very dangerous for both Izzy and Bill.
I felt for Izzy and Bill from the start. They both just wanted to be together but a war that they could not control had the potential to take everything from them. I tried to imagine what it must have been like for Izzy to live in fear of being discovered and how difficult it must have been to hide her gender in the living conditions within the camp. Bill was in constant fear for Izzy and was willing to do whatever it took to protect her.
This was a really powerful story. The descriptions in this book were very well done and I was able to form a mental image of what the conditions in the camp were Bill, Izzy, and the others that were in on their secret. Everything from their constant state of hunger to the physical pain was vividly described. I felt like I was there with them as they fought to take another step and leaned on each other for support.
I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction. I thought that this was a very well done and powerful story. I will admit that I would have loved to see a little bit about what happened to each of the characters after the story ended but I realize that most of the people being released from these camps would never know the fate of those they had come in contact with during their incarceration. I would not hesitate to read more of this author's work in the future.
I received an advanced review copy of this book from Penguin Publishing Group - Berkley....more
I loved this book! Last year, I read David Joy's previous novel, The Line That Held Us,This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I loved this book! Last year, I read David Joy's previous novel, The Line That Held Us, and was blown away and knew that I needed to read more of this amazing author's work. Well, I finally had the chance to sit down and read his newest book and found it to be equally impressive. This was one of those books that I did not want to put down once I picked it up and felt moved by the story.
This book deals with the difficult topic of drug abuse. I found the descriptions to be incredibly vivid and sometimes eye-opening. Several different perspectives come together to tell this tale of desperation. From an addict, we see the uncontrollable need for the next high and how the entire focus on his life has become centered on doing whatever necessary to get the drugs he needs. From the parent of an addict, we see how much they want to help and their frustration with how little they are able to actually do. We get to see law enforcement take steps to cut off the supply and how slowly the system move.
This book is set in the mountains of North Carolina and I really felt those mountains come to life in this story. The characters were very well-developed and the descriptions were incredibly vivid. The writing was beautiful despite the rather harsh reality of the story. I was really drawn into the story and wondered how things would eventually work out for these characters that I had grown to care about.
I would highly recommend this book to others. I found this to be a beautifully written tale of desperation and the need to take steps towards change. I am now considering myself to be a card-carrying member of the David Joy fan club (is there such a thing?) and will definitely be planning to read more of his work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam's Sons via Edelweiss....more
Loading...
